>>>After reading some of the comments in the recent thread "What does it

mean to be eastern and Catholic?" I am prompted to ask what are the

views of Eastern Catholics here about the Balamand Accord?<<<

Balamand's provisions have been adopted as official policy by the Catholic Church, but Latin and Eastern. It has been accepted by most Eastern Catholics who are even aware of it, though it was rejected by the initialy rejected by the Synod of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church--who were involved in a bitter property dispute with the Romanian Orthodox Church at the time. The Romanian Synbd has since accepted Balamand, and made considerable progress in their dialogue with the Romanian Orthodox Church.

>>>Are Orthodox "dissident" "schismatics" who are outside "the true

Church"? Is the Balamand Accord "blatantly heretical" from a Catholic

standpoint? <<<

No doubt there are some die-hard Uniates who feel that way, but most Eastern Catholics view the Orthodox as Sister Churches from whom we are tragically separated. The term "Diddisent Orientals" is heard only in ultramontanist circles, like the Transalpine Redemptorists, and hardly reflect the perspective of either the Eastern Catholic laity or their hierarchy. Balamond can hardly be considered heretical from a Catholic perspective, since it has been accepted as official policy regarding relations with the Orthodox Church, albeit implementation of its practical suggestions has been uneven (old habits die hard among Latins and Eastern Cathollics alike, to say nothing of the Orthodox). Balamand explicitly states that the Orthodox and Catholic Churches are Sister Churches, and that there can be no talk regarding conversin from one to the other as a prerequisite for salvation. The Catholic Church condemned uniatism as a method of reunion, and foreswears any attempt to proselytize the Orthodox faithful (though individual Latin and Eastern Catholics continue to do this in contravention of policy).

The emerging consensus among Eastern Catholics concerned with ecumenical dialogue, is that Eastern Catholic Churches have "a vocation to disappear" (Bp. John Michael Botean's felicitous phrase) That means our ultimate destiny is to return to our Orthodox Mother Churches, but only upon conditions that allow us to maintain our communion with the Church of Rome. In practical terms, that gives us a unique apostolate for reconcilliation, for it is only through reconcilliation and the establishment of a true communioni in the Holy Spirit that we can "go home".

Until that time, it would appear that our mission is no longer to the Orthodox, but rather to our Latin brothers, to make them aware of the glories of the Eastern Churches, and to impress upon them the reality that to be Catholic does not necessarily mean to be Latin.

Balamand became official policy of the Catholic Church when the Church began issuing instructions that referred to the Declaration or substantively moved to implement its provisions. Hence, the Catholic Church has prepudiated any attempts at proselytization of Orthodox Christians, hence the Pope issued his Pastoral Letter Orientale Lumen (which draws heavily upon the Balamand Statement's approach to Uniatism and the future of the Eastern Cathooic Churches), hence the pope's Encyclical Ut Unam Sint, which reiterates the points made by Balamand in regard to Catholic and Orthodox relations. Above all, we have the Liturgical Instruction issued by the Sacred Congregation for the Orienatl Churches, which brings concrete expression within the Eastern Catholic Churches to the idea that the Eastern Catholic Churches have a particular mission to bear witness to the possibility of being truly Orthodox and truly Catholic at the same time.

I suggest that if you want "official" cinfirmation of the status of the Balamand Declaration within the Catholic Church, you address an inquiry to Edward Idris, Cardinal Cassidy, Secretary of the Ppntifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. I heard him speak on the subject at the Orientale Lumen II Conference in 1998, and he was most emphatic that Balamand was the official policy of the Catholic Church.

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